This invention relates to an improvement in a fifth wheel vehicle trailer.
Fifth wheel trailers are trailers which are hitched to a bed of a towing vehicle rather than hitched to a rear bumper of a towing vehicle.
Currently, fifth wheel trailers sometimes include a bedroom slide-out whereby additional floor space can be created when the fifth wheel trailer is in a parked position. However, there are electromechanical devices required to operate the side bedroom slide which can be cumbersome and can result in significant service and maintenance costs. In addition, is it possible for water and air to leak into the fifth wheel trailer through the side bedroom slide.
Ward in U.S. Pat. No. 3,817,545 discloses a vehicle having a power unit and a housing removeably mounted with a break-open hitch assembly on the power unit. The power unit has an open top body that is covered by the housing. The front portion of the housing has an opening providing access between the interior of the housing and the driver-passenger compartment of the power unit, permitting concurrent use of the housing and the driver-passenger compartment. However, Ward requires modifications to the towing vehicle which could make it difficult to retrofit the housing to existing power units. In addition, Ward teaches that the front portion of the housing which extends over the power unit is connected to and supported by the cab of the towing vehicle.
Shoop in U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,205 teaches the addition of a tapered, streamlined aerodynamic extension to a front end of the trailer which can be retrofitted to existing trailers to provide extra storage and sleeping space. However, the extension in Shoop terminates behind the pick-up cab and is slightly lower than and narrower than the truck""s cab and does therefore not extend over the cab of the towing vehicle. Access to the extension is available through a separate exterior access door as well as through the original front window opening of the trailer. While this design is useful for retrofitting to existing trailers, the additional space created is limited and is not as useful as if the additional space were part of the trailer itself and this design limits the placement of windows and other openings.
There remains a need for a fifth wheel trailer design which allows for the incorporation of significant additional living space without requiring a slide-out and without adding to the length between the hitch and a bumper of the towing vehicle.
It is an object of the invention to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art by providing, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a fifth wheel trailer for hitching to a truck, the truck having a cab and a fifth wheel hitch in a towing bed of the truck, a front section of the trailer extending over the cab of the truck when the trailer is coupled to and supported by the fifth wheel hitch.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the front section of the trailer comprises a first section extending over the towing bed of the truck and a second section extending over and forward from the first section, the second section extending over the cab of the truck.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the front section of the trailer comprises a lower frame; an upper frame; a first upright connecting the lower frame to a first end of the upper frame; a second upright extending upwards from a second end of the upper frame; and a floor panel supported by the second, load-bearing upright on one side, a front stiffener wall on a second side and sidewalls on a third and fourth side.